Software Engineer on a Mission to Humanize Technology one Pet at a Time

‘Pets in Tech’ strives to make technology more personable.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK—It’s hard to deny that technology is a wonderful thing, however, it’s not without its flaws. Whether you’re on your smartphone, tablet or computer, technology has a reputation for making us, well, less human by undermining personal interactions. Longtime software engineer, Lawrence Tan, knows this all too well.

“Most of my days are spent behind the keyboard. And, as much as I love technology, there’s a very human side of me, that’s somewhat illogical, a little bit irreverent, and totally wacky,” explained Lawrence. “Because technology reduces face-to-face contact, it’s very easy to associate technology as artificial and emotionless.”

Despite the common technology perception, Lawrence says he and his e-commerce company, Pets in Tech, are on a mission to change the common view of technology through art—fun art at that. Pets in Tech boasts unique apparel for men, women and children with features cute, adorable pets doing “tech things.” Lawrence is the mastermind behind each graphic concept.

“Mixing pets with tech does not make a lot of sense in the real world, but it's a fun alternate reality to think about,” stated Lawrence.

The idea for Pets in Tech came partly from his days while working for Zynga, a leading social game developer based in San Francisco. According to Lawrence, the company allows employees to bring their dogs to work. Studies have shown that it’s a great stress reliever, promotes positive interactions and improves morale. For Lawrence, he’s seen first-hand how pets can positively influence the image of technology.

“One time we were in a small room for a meeting, and there were three dogs running and chasing each other nonstop while the rest of us tried to talk about serious business. It was pure entertainment,” recalled Lawrence.

“I don’t think there’s been an e-commerce site besides us that focuses mainly on the juxtaposition of pets and technology. You have the best of both worlds,” stated Lawrence. “We ensure that our clients are happy and that our products of the highest quality and we offer a 30-day free return policy.”

For Lawrence, when consumers purchase apparel from Pets in Tech, he hopes it will help change the current perception of technology by starting a conversation.

“When people think of technology, they probably associate it with geekiness, blandness, emotionless, lacking character. While most geeks can’t be bothered by that, there’s this other group of people who might feel alienated by tech or think it’s uncool,” explained Lawrence. “I think mixing pets and tech in creative ways can change that perception and give tech a more emotional appeal. It brings more love to tech.”

As for what’s next? Lawrence says for the short term it’s to add more designs to the store. The company’s long-term goals is to create more content around the store’s designs.

“We currently have a webcomics for it. We plan to add videos in the future for unique entertainment,” Lawrence said.

ABOUT PETS IN TECH: Based in New York, Pets in Tech is meant to inspire a person’s creative side while helping them laugh about the many different ways to run a virtual machine, or the latest work-around for Internet Explorer. Most importantly, we are on a mission to change the perception of technology, one pet at a time.